In many ways ours, too, is an age like the one President Wilson described. We are often disturbed by the leading role of materialism in the creation of a world economy; confused by the slippery slopes that surround the plateaus of moral high ground; and bewildered by a loss of rootedness that once held us in the warmth of family and community. There is also much excitement and feverish activity, and with our improved technology, we can now get excited and feverish faster than ever.

His admonition that it, "is our duty to find ourselves," is as appropriate and important a task now as ever. I don’t mean to be an alarmist. I suspect that confidence in any age is more a matter of retrospect, than it is a present appreciation for any current accomoplishment. It is the task of every age to achieve its security by envisioning its destiny and then by moving toward that vision.

I strongly suspect that is why this congregation and the Unitarian Universalist movement is swelling in number these days–because we know that we need to find ourselves. Our chances of doing that successfully are greatly improved by joining with others who are on a similar search. We are here joined to seek a concert of thoughtful purpose; we are here unfettered by dogma and doctrine.

And so, from time to time it’s important for us to take some time out in order to find ourselves as a community, in order to define ourselves as a community. It’s important for us to take some time out of our regular church activities in order to religiously and responsibly state our purpose for being.

This morning we are going to look at that purpose. We are going to view it within its historical context, and we are going to look at the concept of covenant within a historical context as well. My hope is that these preparations we make today will serve us well as we gather to participate next Sunday in the reconstruction of our mission and covenant statement.

Please be sure to note the changes in schedule and in format for that day. We will meet for one session only, but it will last from 9:30 through 12:00 noon. We’ll begin with a brief worship service and move right into a workshop process of exploration and expression. The process is one that builds upon itself, so please plan to be here for the whole time.

What exactly is a mission and covenant statement? Despite the fears of some, it is not a statement of doctrine or creed. A mission is a statement of purpose, of raison d’être. And the covenant is a noble and lofty agreement about how we are going to be with one another, and how we are going to try to achieve our mission.

The word mission comes from the Latin root mittere, which is a verb meaning to let go, or to send out. So a mission is something capable of being sent out. The word covenant is also of Romantic origins, this time French, meaning coming together, or agreement.

Both words have a history steeped in religious tradition. The word covenant goes back in Western religious tradition to the earliest book of the Jewish Torah. There are 382 references to it in the Old & New Testaments of the Christian Bible. Bridging the centuries with the idea of covenant from ancient times to our contemporary era, political scientist, Hans Kohn wrote:

"The Covenant... formed the gateway to their history, [it was] a symbolic act of the highest [poignancy], revived three thousand years later as the root of modern nationalism and democracy. For the Covenant was concluded between God and the whole people, every member in complete equality." The idea of covenant is supportive of our principle that promotes democracy.

In olden days it was said that there were three parties in every covenant: the person entering the agreement, the person or persons they were entering the agreement with, and God.

Christians focussed more on elements of spirit and grace in covenant, and not so much on the law. The New Covenant was born out of love and kindness with the birth of the Prince of Peace. Christians also added to it the notion of religious mission in the sharing of the "good news."

The ideas of Mission and Covenant go way back. Our own understanding of these terms within our particular Unitarian Universalist setting may not be the same as traditional understandings, but they do come out of these same roots.

Our mission: What do we do? What do we send out? What is our Good News?

Our covenant: How is it that we are going to be with one another while we do what it is we are doing? And how does our understanding of ultimate value–our understanding of that which is divine or most meaningful–how does that understanding serve as an inseparable part, an underlying basis for our relationships with one another as we work toward our mission? What is the religious role here of loving-kindness?

Some of us may be somewhat uncomfortable using traditional religious words to describe our activities here. The truth of the matter is though, this is a religious community; we’re in a religious setting. To use religious vocabulary reminds us that we are talking about issues that have a particular significance to a part of our lives where we attempt to come to terms with ultimate concerns. To use religious language reminds others to be respectful of our quest because it gives them a context in which to recognize our activity.

This church has stood for some very consistent values throughout its 103-year history. That doesn’t mean those values have always been expressed in the same way, nor that they have always had the same priorities. A review of our history during our centennial celebration, three years ago showed these three themes clearly and consistently:

First, the very idea of this church was the result of a group of women who felt the need to provide appropriate, liberal religious education for their children. After several meetings, incidentally, a number of men in the community expressed a bit of angst over being left out of the conversation, and so they were graciously invited to join. So, the first ongoing theme is the primacy of the role of religious education, and the congregation’s relationship with the children of this community.

Second, is the theme of inclusion, creating a caring community of faith and then inviting others to come and be a part of it. First the women let the men in. Since then the congregation has sought to extend the boundaries of community to incorporate all those who would be well served by the nurturing spirit of this liberal religious congregation.

A historical illustration of this point comes from an account provided by Mrs. Susie Louise Dix. Mrs. Dix, a Charter Member, indicated that a few months after the original group began to meet and invited nearby Unitarian Ministers as speakers, interest from the wider community developed quickly. She reported simply, "We had to hire chairs to accommodate the growing attendance." From the hiring of more chairs to holding multiple services on Sunday morning, the congregation has sought, through the decades, to do what has been required of it in order to build community and then welcome others into it.

The third theme may not have been evident from the very start of the congregation, but it became a part of the mission shortly thereafter. Following the turn of the century, this building was erected. It was at about that same time when an intentional and earnest effort began to promote the racial integration of our church school and the congregation at large. Led by Rev. Edgar Weirs, the congregation embarked upon an attempt to bring African-American children into our religious education program.

The purposes, it seems, were two fold. First, it was felt that we had something to offer the children of color by way of liberal religious instruction and experience. And second, those same children had much to offer the already attending children of the church school by way of an expanded world and cultural view. It was also hoped, and it came to pass, that the African-American kids would eventually bring their parents to the church to engage in the same kind of exchanges among the adult members of the congregation.

The third theme then, besides being a continuation of our welcome to others, is the ongoing effort of the congregation toward the promotion of racial harmony and social justice. It has been particularly focussed all these years in the area of undoing the injustices of racism.

Throughout the years, each time the Unitarian Church of Montclair has recreated and redefined itself, it has been around these same indomitable themes. And so it has been from the very beginning that this church has sought to make a difference in the lives of its people, so that there might be a difference in the world. And so it has been from the very beginning that children have been at the heart of our concern and of our interest, the objects of our love, and the depositories of our highest ideals.

And so it has been that we have sought to be an inclusive lot, reaching out in diversity to those who would add so much by their presence to our company. And so it has been through the generations that our people have come to be touched by the spirit and moved toward compassion and justice. And so it has been from the very beginning that we have opened wide our doors and "hired extra chairs to accommodate the growing attendance" of those who have come here to be served through service to that which is larger than us all.

Quite honestly, I don’t think our mission is going to look radically different than it has over all these years. I love the sentiment, to "come together in fellowship to improve the quality of life in our hearts, our homes, our community and our world." And I don’t think our covenant is going to be any less an affirmation of, and an aspiration to life on the high road. As we begin this new century though, it’s important to know that the vision is ours, and it will be ours if it is stated in our own words.

Take a look for a moment at our current mission and covenant statement as it is printed on your Order of Service. It is a wonderful statement of religious vision. The mission part of it is very clear; we come together to improve… That’s a religious activity. It’s about transformation and redemption. It’s about high aspiration, and about being a part of and serving something larger than ourselves.

I’m not altogether sure though that the covenant portion clearly and concisely expresses what we might hope it could. Parts of it are fine. But I don’t see the full reflection of our history projected into the aspirations for our future.

• Where do we state the centrality of our devotion to the religious education of the children of this congregation, and to the service of the children of our wider community?
• Where do we state our dedication to the creation of a community that fosters spiritual growth and reaches out to welcome others into that fellowship?

• Where do we state clearly our faithfulness to issues of justice and our commitment to diversity? Where is our identity as antiracist? Where is our fervor for gender justice? Where can we find expressed our more recent passion for concerns about justice and inclusivity for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals?

These are some of our ongoing themes that I’d like to see as a part of our statement of who we are. What would be important to you to have included? What would help to make your vision clear?

When he was chaplain of the U.S. Senate, Peter Marshall prayed, "Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for–because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything."

We stand right now at a rather unique moment in history. This is January of the year 2000. Think about that for a minute: January, 2000. All of us here were born in the last century, and have looked forward to this particular moment in time as being definitive of the future. We are now a part of that future about which we speculated for so long.

If we can learn anything from our arrival here it is this: the future does not create itself. It is fashioned out of the past. We are participants with providence in its creation. The future dawns disturbed, confused and bewildered when there is no clear vision to carry us from today to tomorrow. The future is vivid though, when we engage in concert of thoughtful purpose. To what reality do we want our future to awaken?

It’s a new century and a new millennium. It’s time once again for us to state our purpose for being and to enter into agreement–with each other and with a mindfulness of all we hold holy and dear–an agreement to be the intentional religious community we are capable of being.

There are three things that I ask you to think about this week in preparation for our work next week:

• This is your church.
• This church of yours is a very precious ongoing religious experiment.
• What do you want to make of it?

Rabbi Stephen Wise wrote, "Vision looks inward and becomes duty. Vision looks outward and becomes aspiration. Vision looks upward and becomes faith."

We are a community of memory and a community of hope. We are a community of faith. Close to the core of our religious way is a widely held belief that what we do does indeed matter. It follows that who we say we are, and what we say we do, is vitally important.

I look forward to being with you next week as we engage in the creation of that statement.